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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26499346">9 fanfic (I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO CALL THIS)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kidme999/pseuds/kidme999'>kidme999</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9 (2009)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Doing my best here, Eventual Relationships, I don't know how to write someone with a stutter, I'm bad at tags can you tell?, I'm sorry if any of this is offenseive I swear I'm not trying to be rude, Other, Out of Character, Please don't judge me, Polyamory, Slow Build, Soulmates, Stuttering, This Is STUPID, but they don't figure it out for a while, cursing, first fanfic i've posted in literal years, i ship everything sorry, idk man, mind reading (?), probably out of character, reclusive character, so I figured I'd start posting it, they're all poly, they're stupid with emotions, this is gonna get long, this kind of spun out of control into a full out fanfic rather than just a little what if thing, what if 9 didn't see 2 out there, what if they had visions??, why not?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:36:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,927</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26499346</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kidme999/pseuds/kidme999</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I'm not great at summaries. I swear that the fic is better than the summery.</p><p>Nine doesn't want the other stitchpunks to know he existed, it was just better this way. That way they wouldn't have to deal with his... deadline. One also has a bit of a problem, even though he is unaware of that, and Nine knows he has to fix that before he runs out of time. But Six running out into the emptiness throws a wrench in the whole 'don't let them get attached' plan.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>1 &amp; 2 (9), 1 &amp; 6 (9), 1 &amp; 7 (9), 1 &amp; 8 (9), 1 &amp; 9 (9), 1/2 (9), 1/7 (9), 2 &amp; 5 (9), 2/5 (9), 4/5 (9), 4/8 (9), 5 &amp; 6 (9), 5 &amp; 7 (9), 5 &amp; 9 (9), 5/6 (9), 5/7 (9), 5/9 (9), 6 &amp; 8 (9), 6 &amp; 9 (9), 6/7 (9), 6/8 (9), 6/9 (9), 7/9 (9)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1: A Guest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So this is the first thing I've posted in years and the first thing I've ever posted here. So please don't be too harsh. (´・ω・｀)</p><p> </p><p>POV: Nine</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The cathedral was old and worn, with battle scars from the past, like every other building in the emptiness. Given how old it had been before being forcibly abandoned by humankind as a whole, it was a miracle there were only about a dozen holes in it. One of these holes happened to be very high up in the ceiling, between two thick rafters. It was nearly impossible to see from the floor but gave a perfect vantage for anyone who looked through it. I had only recently found this vantage point, and while it was nice to be able to see what was going on rather than just hearing through the even smaller hole on the main room's wall- much less confusing. That hole was also much easier to spot- and they had covered it up anyway, which is why I needed to find a new one in the first place. </p><p>	There were a few downsides to this hole, though. For one, it was so high up- why on earth were there ceilings built this high in the first place anyway? It was so high up that the figures below me were a bit hard to tell apart if you didn't know them. I didn't know them per se of course, I had never introduced myself or anything like that, but I did know how to tell them apart from a distance. </p><p>	The hardest to tell apart were Three and Four- they had the nickname 'the twins' for goodness sake, it was no surprise that I couldn't tell which was which. But I could tell them apart from the others. They were the smallest of the stitchpunks, and a bit paler than most of the others. They also were rarely one without the other- they were curious and clingy as well, which made it easy to guess who they were based only on how they reacted to the others. </p><p>	One always wore his frankly ridiculous hat and cape and carried around that staff, which made him easier to tell apart. He was also a bit skinny compared to the others and spent most of his time bossing the others around rather than anything else. Seven was much paler than the others, on the taller and thinner side as well. Not to mention she had taken to wearing around a sort of makeshift amour mostly made of scraps and a bird's skull for a helmet. Eight was also easy to tell apart, as he was the largest in every sense- if not that then the fact that he was nearly always standing literally at Ones' shoulder.  </p><p>	Two and Five were a bit harder to tell apart from each other- they were made, for the most part, from burlap as I was, and were about the same height (Five was just a bit taller than the older stitchpunk). The main things that helped me tell them apart from this distance was the leather apron that Two wore, along with his relatively new odd hat contraption- it had a swinging piece of glass, probably found off some old pair of glasses, that he used when reading. Five's missing eye was difficult to see from this height, but I could just manage to see the change from burlap to leather on his head. </p><p>	Six was probably the easiest to tell from the others, as he was striped, unlike the rest of the cloth and mechanical dolls below. If that didn't give it away, his yarn hair and the massive key around his neck would clue you in. Not to mention how skittish he acted- Six was especially fascinating to me, to be honest. He seemed to be selectively mute, and when he did speak it was with a bad stutter. I couldn't see them from up here, but I knew he also had odd hands. Made from pen nibs, for making art- which the striped stitchpunk spent most of his day doing. Desperately trying to communicate his visions in a way that wouldn't scare off or confuse the others. </p><p>	I wondered momentarily how someone would see me if I was down there. A plain burlap doll, not particularly big or small, with no real distinguishing features. Besides the dark cloak I was wearing, there was nothing in particular about my appearance. </p><p>	I realized my mind was wandering- I wasn't paying attention to the stitchpunks below. I turned my mind back to the figures below me.</p><p>	"You FREAK!" snapped One, prodding Six with his staff and making the poor thing to stagger back a step. Six had tried once again to get the others to listen to him about his visions, Seven and the twins had listened. When One found them trying to sneak off, he had decided that it was the last straw. The commotion had drawn the others from their rooms and posts. I frowned as I saw how Six clutched the drawing, clearly frustrated and hurt by the reactions of the others. </p><p>	It was a shame that they were still not getting along, even after I had caught and reprogrammed both Skull and Talon. Respectively a robot with a cat's skull for a head and a flying robot that looks less like a bird and more like a nightmare, though the vague resemblance was enough in my mind to inspire their name. They used to be the small group's largest threat and I had hoped that by making the disappear, that they might start to work out their problems more. That hope was now being dashed as One continued to berate Six, volume ever-growing.</p><p>	"You keep dragging the others into your nightmarish nonsense and I will not allow it!" Their voices drifted up to the ceiling, echoed slightly by the large room they were all gathered in. Besides Eight, the rest of the Stitchpunks looked ready to step in and get between Six and One, but they were still hesitating- afraid to be yelled at like Six, I guessed. It frustrated me- I could barely understand why they put up with One at all, let alone listen to him. </p><p>	Seven suddenly stepped forward- she was probably the bravest of them, so it was no real surprise that she was the one to step in.</p><p>	"One, cut it ou-" She started to argue. Finally, someone was interrupting One's endless berating, poor Six looked about ready to start crying.</p><p>	"OH NO! You aren't going to interrupt me right now Seven. You're getting a talking to as soon as I'm done with Six! I can't believe the two of you, Six making you all listen to nonsense and trying to scare you with his madness, and Seven- Dragging Three and Four into this?! Wandering off and disobeying me?? You're in just as much trouble!" He announced, anger clear from even this height. </p><p>	"I- I- I- I'm not m- ma- mad!" Protested Six vainly, tears gathering in his eyes as he struggled to speak. I could only spot the tears from here because of another oddity Six had- he had ink tears. It was one of the few things that I had absolutely no explanation for. "Not-not-not cr- Cra-azy!"</p><p>	"Then speak properly, you imbecile!" Snapped One, swiping at Six with his staff. The younger stitchpunk yelped and ducked. I gritted my teeth at the attempt to hurt the striped stitchpunk.</p><p>	"HEY!" Seven cried out in anger, shoving One away and stepping between the two. Eight immediately moved as if to shove her away from the eldest stitchpunk. </p><p>	"We should all try to calm down and-" Started Two, stepping in and trying to regain any sense of stability or peace in the group. Oh, dear. This was escalating quickly.</p><p>	"HOW DARE YOU!?" Screeched One, furious with Seven. Eight took this as his cue to actually shove the female stitchpunk. That was a mistake. A fight immediately broke out between them, causing Three, Four, and Five to leap back in surprise and probably some fear of getting caught up in the violence. One continued to screech about something or other and Two was trying- to no avail, bless him, to break up the fight. </p><p>	This all was apparently too much for Six. He backed up a few steps before turning and running out of the room and down out of the cathedral altogether. I got to my feet, rushing to the edge of the roof and looking down. Surely he wouldn't just run off without anything to defend himself with? Surely he wouldn't go far, not with the sun already going down? </p><p>	He ran straight out and into the emptiness, with no regard for where he was going, veering around obstacles as he sprinted off at shocking speed. Shit. I rushed back to the hole, taking only a moment to look in again. Alarm filled me as I realized that with Seven and Eight scuffling, everyone was focused on trying to stop them from hurting each other and hadn't noticed Six running away. I looked at the darkening sky. Fuck. It was dusk, and soon the few remaining mechanical beings that were still functional and served the long-dormant brain would start moving around again, looking for anything living to take to their master or kill. Six was running on emotions- a whim. He wasn't prepared and wouldn't be safe. By the time the others realized he hadn't run away to his room but out into the wasteland, it would be far too late. </p><p>	I stood quickly, I would have rather not risked being seen but I had no choice here. I had to make sure that Six didn't end up dead out there. I ran the few feet across the roof to Talon, who had gotten me up here in the first place, and swung myself onto them clicking my heals to their side. The bird-like machine took off immediately, carrying me high into the air. I tugged gently on the reign-like protrusions of metal on the sides of Talon's face to direct them, searching for Six.</p><p>	I found him relatively quickly- though with darkness falling so quickly I was looking any visual. I followedSix at a distance as I caught up, being careful to keep Talon and myself from his line of sight. I would try my best to avoid detection. That goal was swiftly destroyed.</p><p>	As I drew closer to the figure he stumbled and fell, curling up rather than standing again. Alarm and concern flooded me, and I banked sharply down, landing and launching myself off Talon into a run. How had he gotten hurt so quickly?! Had I somehow missed seeing some threat that had gotten to the oracle before I could? I had tamed two of the dangers from the wasteland but there could be up to a dozen still lurking around.</p><p>	I reached the smaller stitchpunk and went to roll him over, to see how bad the damage was. As soon as my hand brushed against the smaller stitchpunk's fabric he shot up, turning over quickly to face me. I saw in that instant that he hadn't been injured. He had simply been crying. Fuck. Six's optics widened as he caught sight of me, gasping- then his gaze jumped to Talon as the bird shifted in place, and the striped doll shrieked in fear, scrambling backward without standing from the ground. I quickly gestured, holding my empty hands out to try to calm him, show him I meant no harm- but I'm sure a hooded mysterious figure who was with the bird beast wasn't exactly a calming sight. </p><p>	Six scrambled back too far and suddenly fell off the pile of debris with a yelp, then a crash as a few objects slipped after him. I jumped to my feet, again rushing after the striped stitchpunk. My train of thought at this point was basically: Oh shit, oh fuck- oh fucking shit. I skidded down the sharp incline after him, alarmed to see that he appeared unconscious now. I knelt down next to the Oracle and quickly opened his chest cavity. Velcro secured his, making it hard to find, and I feared that he was seriously injured. I opened him gently and was relieved to see no obvious damage. Just knocked unconscious most likely. I hoped.</p><p>	I let out a clicking sigh of relief, glancing around as I secured his chest cavity. It was getting to be fully dark now- barely enough light for me to be sure nothing had snuck up on us. Now it was truly night. My original plan of simply carrying Six back to the cathedral, leaving him outside the door, and hoping he would think I was a dream was suddenly shattered. If the others didn't think to look for him till morning the chances were that he would be taken by some wild animal or machine. I couldn't let that happen. I looked down at the little stitchpunk and winced as I realized I would have to take him home with me. </p><p>	I had to figure this out. I would figure out how to fix all of this once the older stitchpunk was safe. </p><p>	I glanced at Talon. Traveling by air would be safer from any creatures that might be around, but I didn't want to try to hold onto an unconscious stitchpunk while in the air. I stuck two fingers in my mouth and whistled before tapping Talon's side. The bird creature took off, flying towards home. I waited a moment, holding my spear ready just in case, before hearing a small, mechanical sound that resembled the way a cat might announce it's presence. I relaxed as Skull came trotting over one of the mounds of rubble. </p><p>	"Mmmrrrgg?" They let out the sound again, gently bumping their head against me. I smiled at the affection. I wished that more cats had survived the brain- and that of the few that had that they would be less feral. I petted them once before picking up Six and setting him on Skull's back, climbing on after him, and grabbing to the both of them. Time to go home. I tapped Skull's side gently a few times, and we were off. The replica of a real cat bounding gracefully over and around debris, avoiding any strange sounds or movements in the dark before gracefully alighting onto the windowsill of my home. </p><p>	I climbed down, taking Six gently with me. Luckily the window Skull had decided to sit on was the one that led to the bedroom. As gently as I could, I dumped the unconscious stitchpunk onto the bed. He covered about half of the pillow. I went back to the open window, glad to see that Skull had climbed down into the room where Talon was already perched on a long-dead lamp. I pulled the shutters closed, latching them before turning my attention to the door. I had long ago attached a rope to the handles of each of the doors in the house to make opening and shutting them easier for someone a little less than a foot tall, like me. I pulled the door closed, scrambling up the dresser and shoving the bolt into place with the full force of my body. There. Safe. </p><p>	I turned my attention back to Six. Still unconscious. I frowned to myself. If he didn't wake up by morning then I'd look for the blueprints Father had designed Six with- maybe I had missed something that had gone wrong? </p><p>	I silently yawned, suddenly exhausted. Damn. I was running out of energy faster and faster flatly. I felt a weight settle over me. I was too exhausted and stressed to worry any more that day. I glanced at Six as I climbed the bedside table up to the soft sleeping place.  </p><p>	I had never really been this close to a real-life stitchpunk before. I had never seen any of them this close up. Despite being the same type of creature, we looked very different. Six had soft fabric skin rather than rough burlap, and stripes all up and down his body. His optics were slightly different sizes- Father had mentioned that in his notes, he had run out of the same size when making Six. His hands had beautiful fingers, made of pen tips and stained with ink, and was the small poof of yarn hair on his head. I reached out to poke at the yarn, it was simply fascinating and adorable to me. Then I stopped. I shouldn't. It would be creepy. </p><p>	I silently yawned again, my body reminding me of its weariness. I took off my cloak and laid it over Six. No need for my guest to be cold. I paused at the thought as I laid down. Ha. Me, having a guest. Who would have ever thought? Not me for sure.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Starting over</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>sorry</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So, while watching an overly sarcastic trope talk, I realized that the story I have written so far (Published and unpublished) doesn't make sense. It's just not good, that's why I was having trouble editing and posting the second chapter. I'm not giving up on the idea and I'm not going to take down this existing chapter. I am going to take some time to rewrite and fix what I have, but it might take a while. So there is more coming, it will just be a while. I'm so glad that people like what I've put here so far and hope that you'll come back for the revised story when I finish rewriting it. Thank you so much for the support! :)</p>
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